An entrepreneur in Mexico has become a champion of leather’s value as a perfect fit for slow fashion and for the circular economy.

A wood-scented childhood in a small village in Austria led Lisa Dobler to a love of craftsmanship. This led to a love of slow fashion and appreciation of artisan skills. By a roundabout route, this led her to fall in love with Mexico, make her home there and, in 2018, launch her own leathergoods business, Lebensstück.

She insisted on giving the company a German name, one that means ‘product for life’, but the business is rooted in the Bajíoregion of Mexico, with headquarters and one team of artisans in Santiago de Querétaro and a second production site 175 kilometres away in León, Guanajuato. “That’s where  all the tanners are,” she explains, “so it’s important for us to have a presence in Guanajuato.”

To read the rest of this feature by Leatherbiz, click on Lebensstück.